STF2021-0001-RLUIPA.Request.rvsd.fnlpE ED%4,
City of Edmonds
121 FIFTH AVENUE N. • EDMONDS, WA 98020 9425-771-0220
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Mike Nelson - Mayor
January 12, 2021
To: Ann Jacob, United Methodist Church Pastor
From: Shane Hope, City of Edmonds Development Services Director
Subject: STF2021-0001
Determination for RLUIPA Request from the United Methodist Church in Edmonds
Request Summary:
The United Methodist Church in Edmonds (UMC), at 828 Caspers Street, has made a request to allow an
exemption to the zoning code's restriction on storage of four buses, which are not owned or operated by the
church, at the church site.
Findings:
Under RLUIPA, religious organizations have some leeway in complying with local zoning regulations that are
deemed to infringe on the organization's religious practices.
The City has considered the facts of this situation per the UMC request (# STF2021-0001), including:
❑ ECDC 17.100.020 provides specific regulations for churches, which are allowed in all residential,
business, and commercial zones. The storage of buses could ordinarily be considered a secondary use
and subject to a conditional use permit.
❑ The UMC is located in a single-family zone —actually split between two such zones (RS-12 and RS-8).
Storage is not a primary or secondary use in RS zones, pursuant to ECDC 16.20.010. Furthermore, ECDC
17.60.040.F states that "the storage of any vehicle on any residentially zoned property which does not
have a dwelling unit is prohibited unless the property is adjacent to a property with a dwelling unit
owned by the some person. Vehicles shall be registered to that specific dwelling unit." Since the
organization requesting to store the buses on the site does not operate out of the church and the buses
are not licensed to the church, the proposal is also not compliant with ECDC 17.60.040.F. If the vehicles
were licensed to the church they could be stored on the site.
The bus storage would be at the church's parking lot for no more than six months.
❑ UMC has provided information in a questionnaire from the City about the proposed use being
connected to the church's mission.
❑ The four buses are not owned by the UMC but providing temporary storage is believed to help
implement the UMC'S mission.
❑ If the buses were actually owned by the church, they would be allowable in an IRS zone. In this case,
they are owned by an organization that the UMC seeks to support.
❑ This particular use has little direct impact on the neighborhood. Furthermore, because it is temporary
AND the use is not dissimilar in form from what could otherwise be allowed there, it does not need
screening or some other aesthetic mitigation.
❑ A UMC representative will notify the site's adjacent households of this use.
Determination:
The UMC may provide the temporary storage of four buses (belonging to the Trans Women of Color Solidarity
Network) on the church's parking lot for a period of six months, beginning January 15, 2021, provided that
another starting date may be allowed if the UMC notifies the City in a timely manner.